


Barry's Touch

by Ms_C_Marie



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M, Romance, westallen - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-26
Updated: 2016-04-26
Packaged: 2018-06-04 18:15:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6669127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ms_C_Marie/pseuds/Ms_C_Marie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One shot - Takes place after Episode 2x18</p><p>A game of fun causes Iris to reminisce about a night long ago that she and Barry never talk about.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Barry's Touch

Iris laughed out loud at Wally's story and the others joined in. It was the first light moment that they had had in almost a week. Worried that Cisco was taking Caitlin's kidnapping really hard, Barry had invited him over for dinner. It was Wally who had suggested they play the question game as a way to lighten the mood and for him to get to know everyone better. Joe had gone upstairs 30 minutes ago leaving them to play their game. Wally had just shared his worst date ever and Iris was laughing so hard that Wally pushed the bowl with the questions in her direction so that she would be next. Still giddy, Iris plunged her hand in the bowl and swirled the notes around. 

"Pick a good one, now," Cisco quipped. 

"Yeah, pick something that even I don't already know the answer to," Barry piped in. 

He smiled a small smile and Iris was relieved. He was down and frustrated about losing his powers but he was no where near the darkness he was in after the singularity.

Iris pulled out a card and as her eyes scanned the question her smile faded. 

"Let's hear it!" Wally demanded.

"Maybe I should draw again," Iris suggested and reached for the bowl which Wally quickly snatched away before she could exchange cards. 

"We agreed to be open and honest and to answer whatever we picked," he stated firmly. 

So this is what having an annoying little brother is like Iris thought to herself. 

"Stop dawdling, Ms. West." It was Cisco this time. 

Iris stole a glance at Barry and she could tell he was caught between being concerned and curious. Iris took a deep breath and read the card aloud: "Best sexual experience." 

There was a collective groan from the three guys in the room. Wally already had his head in his hands and she caught Cisco giving a protective glance at Barry. 

"Yeah, why don't you pick again," Cisco offered and she caught Barry's slight nod of agreement out of the corner of her eye. He wasn't even looking in her direction. She refused to redraw though. 

"Wait, two seconds ago you were all clamoring that I had to answer...so I'll just say this..." 

Another groan from Wally. Another exchange of glances between Cisco and Barry. She liked Cisco and his making sure Barry was OK at this moment made her like him even more. But they made a deal to answer honestly and that's what she intended to do. 

"Without going into too much detail..."

"Short and sweet is good," Wally cut in.

Iris took a breath. "Well, it was sophomore year in high school. There was a freak snow storm around April 1st. We hung out and one thing kind of led to another..." Her voice trailed off and Wally was more than happy to move them on to the next player. He shoved the bowl in Cisco's direction. "Your turn."

Cisco quickly grabbed a card and read aloud to break up the tension in the room. He imagined that what little Iris had just shared had to sting Barry because he had been in love with her since forever. Cisco guessed that Barry didn't know about Iris' hook-up because Barry was still staring straight ahead with an odd look on his face, not making eye contact with anyone. 

"Anybody want more wine?" Iris asked rising from her seat to go and grab another bottle, making a quick escape. She swung through the kitchen doors and leaned on the counter. She couldn't make out Barry's expression. He seemed surprised, stunned even. Iris found a new wine glass, opened the chilled chardonnay from the fridge and poured herself a glass. She heard raucous laughter, mostly from Wally and Cisco, and was relieved that they had moved on to a more entertaining topic. Iris crossed to the breakfast nook and sat with her knees to her chest cradling the wine glass. Her mind drifted back to that day...

Friday, March 31, 2006

Iris was sitting on the couch editing a short story for English class when Barry came through the front door. He was wet and half covered in mud, hair and all.

"Are you OK, Barr? What happened?" Concern traipsed across her face. 

"A woman got stuck in the snow and I fell giving her a push. She had already removed her winter tires and didn't have enough tread, I suppose. I hope she makes it home before the roads are closed. We're supposed to get almost a foot of snow. It's practically April! Can you believe it?" He started removing his soiled clothes.

Iris smiled up at him. He had such a big heart. He was always helping people, always putting his neck on the line for others. She loved that about him. "I'm sure she really appreciates you helping her out. You were her personal hero today." Barry shrugged and took his wet, muddy coat and boots to the laundry room before heading upstairs to take shower. 

Iris was editing the last page of her story when Barry made his way back downstairs. He was wearing a science club t-shirt and sweat pants. His hair was still wet. Iris marveled at how tall he had become. He had legs for days. It was hard to believe that she once had a good three inches on him because now he towered over her. She had to crane her neck to meet his eyes whenever they were standing next to each other. Barry grabbed the backpack that he had dumped by the front door when he came in and plopped on the couch. 

"How did you make it home so early?" he asked.

"The cheer team left after 6th period for the competition in Keystone. We were already on the road when we learned that all after-school activities in the county were cancelled. It's a shame too 'cause coach worked us really hard this morning." 

"Yeah, she's pretty tough and you guys work really hard. But at least it pays off. There's a reason you guys have back to back championships." He smiled at her and she smiled back glad that he appreciated how physically demanding competitive cheerleading could be. 

"Oh, I finished the last story that you gave me." He reached into his backpack and pulled out several sheets of paper and handed it to her. "It's really good, Iris. I loved Tessa's journey. So bitter sweet." Iris felt her cheeks grow warm. So far she had only shared her writing with Barry. He took such care in reading her stories, jotting comments, questions and praise in the margins. She was planning to submit her work to a literary competition at the end of the month. "Thanks, Barr. Your feedback means a lot."

"Of course. You got a lot of homework?"

"Nope. I got a lot of stuff out of the way earlier in the week because of the now postponed competition this weekend. And I did my Trig when I got home. You?"

"l just have a chem lab to write-up. Wanna watch a movie? Your choice." 

"The only thing on my list right now is Batman Begins and we should save it to watch with my dad. He really wants to see it and he has double duty tonight because of the storm. He probably won't make it home before morning. So you choose."

Barry picked up the red Netflix envelopes from the coffee table. Besides Batman, there was Wedding Crashes and Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle. He got up and put Harold and Kumar in the DVD player. When he turned on the TV the meteorologist was predicting 12-15 inches of snow and everyone was cautioned to stay off the roads. He started the movie and plopped back down on the couch. Iris propped up a pillow and leaned back into the armrest. She stretched out her legs and planted her feet in Barry's lap. 

Instinctively he began to massage them. Somehow this had become part of their movie ritual, probably because her feet were always cold. Barry had joked about the way she always wore thick ragg socks like she was going hiking in the Antarctic. So many a movie night, Iris would place her cold, socked feet in Barry's lap and he would rub them seemingly absentmindedly but too precise and too thorough for him not to be paying attention. And although they both played it off like it was no big deal, Iris loved every minute of it. Especially on days she had a strenuous cheer practice. She loved Barry's touch. There was something so alluring about it. Sometimes when he took her hands in his he'd rub his thumb back and forth, a light soothing touch. And sometimes after he hugged her his hands would drag down the length of her arms. And anytime she felt his long, strong fingers connect with her skin, she felt warm and comforted and safe. But recently there was something else. When Barry touched her she was drawn to him and wanted his hands to linger. Other guys didn't have this effect on her. She noticed this last fall when she went on her first official date. It was a group date arranged by her cheer captain. Iris was the only sophomore on the varsity team and Linda had taken her under her wing. 

Linda thought Iris and Ben, a junior and a wide receiver, would make a good pair. Ben was nice and cute, but throughout the evening Iris noticed that he was only engaged when he was talking about himself. She didn't feel like he was interested in getting to know her, but rather making her his fan. The last straw was when he had grabbed her hand as Linda's boyfriend drove them home from the movies. Iris recoiled at the roughness, the inattention. She told herself that she was just put off by his self-involvement and didn't go out with him again. 

A few weeks later she agreed to go to a book signing by J. California Cooper with Eric Goodwin. Barry couldn't go because he was visiting Hudson University with the science club. She and Eric were in English Honors together and she appreciated his point of view on a lot of issues. But when he walked her to the front door and leaned in to kiss her good night she felt like she was a fly on the wall, watching, as his lips ran over hers. She couldn't get inside the front door fast enough and when she spun around she crashed right into Barry. He held her by the elbows to steady her and she was drawn to him. In her mind they were standing there, close, for five minutes or more but in reality it could not have been more than a couple of seconds. And that night as she lay in bed thinking it over she realized that Barry's touch was...sensual. Yes, sensual was the word and she was drawn to the magic. 

The searing pain woke her and Iris screamed at its intensity. Her left thigh was in a severe contraction. A charley horse. A really bad one. She cried out again, not able to flex against the contraction. She could visibly see the muscle fighting against her skin. Then she felt Barry's had massaging her thigh, battling the angry muscle. 

"Iris...Iris, you have to try to relax or it will get worse." Iris tensed against another angry stab. 

"Take a deep breath with me. Come on. Lean back. Inhale...Exhale..." Barry's voice was soothing as his hands worked to tame the belligerent muscle. Iris leaned back and did her best to focus on the sound of his voice, not the horrible pain. A few moments later the pain started to subside and she began to enjoy the feeling of Barry's strong hands working her thigh muscles. She let him continue a little longer than was probably necessary. Iris let out a slow breath and Barry looked up at her. "Better?" he asked her. "Much. Thank you." She smiled. 

Barry got up and went into the kitchen and Iris noticed the movie's credits were scrolling up the screen. She estimated that she had been asleep for an hour or so. Barry returned with a glass of orange juice and handed it to her. "Drink up." He plopped back down next to her.

"Thanks!" She gave him a soft smile. "So, how was the movie?"

"I don't know," he replied. "I could barely hear it over your snoring."

She threw a pillow at him and he ducked as it sailed over his head." 

"I do not snore!" 

"Sure you do. Especially when you're really tired."

"God, practice twice a day this week must have worn me out more than I thought. I'm starving. Are you hungry?" 

"Yeah, pizza?" 

"Sounds good..." and then everything went black. There were no lights. No TV. A power line had gone down in the wet, heavy snow throwing everything into darkness. 

"Pizza by candle light then?" Iris offered.

They groped their way into the kitchen laughing, bumping into furniture, each other. Iris found the utility candles in the junk draw and lit a few from a gas burner as Barry put a frozen pizza into the oven.

Barry leaned in Iris's direction as she dripped melted wax to keep the candles in place."You know, we're definitely going to have to eat that ice cream tonight. You know, to save it from melting." 

"Definitely." Iris agreed. "So Barry, how's prep going for the CSI Mock Crime Competition?"

"Hmmm...I'm a little stuck on the last practice case. It's a pre-halloween murder mystery."

"Yeah? Tell me."

"Well I analyzed all the evidence and everything points to one suspect. Except..."

Even in the subdued lighting Iris could see the wheels in motion. Barry was mentally going through the evidence. He walked her through the entire case and all the analysis he had done. When the pizza was ready they moved to the dining room and dug in. 

"So all of the evidence points to suspect A but..."

"Something's off." Iris cut in.

"Exactly!" Barry took a huge bite of his pizza and sauce dripped down his chin. Instinctively Iris reached over and wiped the sauce away. 

"OK, start over." she said. Barry jumped up to find a notepad and a pencil and came back and jotted down some notes and a diagram. Barry went through the evidence again, his eyes flashing with excitement. She loved seeing him this way. He leaned back in his chair deep in thought. 

"I'm missing something. I know it." 

He got up to start a fire in the fireplace and then went outside to shovel the front steps. Iris cleared the table, did the dishes and then scooped some mint chocolate chip ice cream in a bowl and added two spoons. She was stretched out it front of the fireplace licking a spoon and studying his notes when he came back in. 

"Want some?" She held out the bowl and Barry stretched out beside her, claimed his spoon and dug in. They always had mint chocolate chip in the freezer because it was Iris' favorite but Barry always ate more than his fair share. 

"So back to your case. Everything works but the timing." Iris took another spoonful of ice cream. "There's not enough time."

"Not enough time to do the crime...and get across town," he replied.

"So how do we get more time?" Minutes pass in silence except the crackling of the fire. 

"More time," she says again. "I'll be saying the same thing on Monday morning. We spring forward tomorrow night. A precious hour gone."

"Wait, that's it! The clocks went back!" Barry jumped up to find his laptop. He searched for the ending of daylight saving time in 2005. Iris crossed her fingers that the dates matched.

"Well?" Iris looked at Barry expectantly. His spoon was still in his mouth. His eyes were scanning the pages, scrolling, scrolling...

"Yes! Daylight saving time ended on Oct. 30 in 2005. That gives the suspect an extra hour to commit the murder and get across town." They grinned at each other and Barry began furiously typing some notes but a few minutes later he was stretched out beside her again, propped up on an elbow.

"You, Iris West, are awesome. Thanks for helping me work through this case. It's been bugging me all day."

"Anytime. You know I love a good mystery." He was pretty close to her, much closer than usual, and his scent was intoxicating. He didn't have on any cologne or anything. He had just shoveled the stairs and walkway and though he probably didn't break much of a sweat, his natural scent enveloped her and made her heady. She craved his touch.

"I'm thinking about getting a tattoo," she shared.

"What? Really? What kind?"

"Not sure. Maybe a butterfly. A small one."

"Where?" 

Iris lifted her t-shirt revealing her taut abs and a small butterfly fluttering just next to her belly button. It was a temporary tattoo. The cheer team had played around with them earlier. Linda had suggested they wear little devils on their ankles for the cheer competition but Iris was drawn to this little butterfly. She heard Barry gulp, loudly. 

"You got it already!"

"No, this is only temporary. I wanted to try one out first. What do you think?"

"It looks real." He voice was low and he rested a hand on her abdomen and stroked the butterfly with his thumb. She was still because she feared if she moved he would take his hand away. "It looks good on you."

"Yeah?" 

"Everything looks good on you, Iris."

She looked at him deeply, contemplating if they should go for it or retreat. There was still time to retreat. To stop the movement over the butterfly. To lower her t-shirt. To back away from his scent. She could get up right now and put distance between them. But she didn't want any of that. She wanted him to touch her, all over. She looked down at his lips in time to see him lick them and then he leaned in and kissed her. A petal soft kiss, tender and sweet. And all of a sudden the butterfly was abandoned and his hand was in her hair, pulling her to him as he kissed her deeply, slowly like he savored every single millisecond. 

Their tongues intertwined in their own seductive dance and Iris couldn't get enough of Barry Allen. She leaned back and pulled him to her and he devoured her. His mouth moved to her neck and one of his magic hands moved under her shirt and his thumb brushed back and forth against a pert nipple making her moan which egged him on. His hands slipped to her back to undue her bra and shook her head no. 

"You want me to stop?" His voice was husky and the sexiest she'd ever heard it, but she saw concern in his eyes. 

"No, it just the clasp isn't in the back." She smiled and undid the hook in the front, revealing her breasts to him. He looked at her like he was mesmerized, captured by her spell. She'd never felt so sexy, so desired, as she did right then.

"You're so beautiful, Iris." He managed to get out before his mouth was drawn to a breast like a magnet and his tongue went to work giving each nipple the attention it deserved. He worked his way back up to her neck and then their tongues found each other once more. Her hands were in his hair pulling him down to her and when Barry got on top of her and his erection pressed into her thigh she involuntarily let out a surprised gasp. 

Barry froze and lifted up.

"What is it? What's wrong?" he asked.

Iris knew guys got hard, and she'd seen pictures, but until this very moment she had never actually felt an erection before. Never had one rubbed against her. She was surprised by how hard he actually was even through his sweatpants. It felt like a brick.

"Nothing, I was just surprised." Barry looked confused. Iris tried to explain. "It's...Your...I never actually felt an erection before...I was just surprised. Haven't you ever been surprised?"

"Iris, I've been in a state of shock since you showed me that butterfly." 

She laughed and then he laughed. She pulled him to her and kissed him letting him know how much she wanted him through her kiss. Her mouth made a trail down the side of his neck following the string of freckles there and her hands reached down to his hips and pulled him to her because he was still hovering above her as if he was afraid to make contact again. Moments later his hands parted her thighs and he nestled himself between her legs and he started a slow grind. 

He looked down at her. "Is this Ok?" 

"Yeah," she whispered but she was mostly just loving the fact the he was on top of her, between her. She could tell he was unconvinced because he shifted slightly once, and then once more and then...

"Oh!"

"Here?"

"Yeah...there." she was breathy and Barry pressed more of his weight into her and grinded a little harder and a little faster. His mouth was on her neck again and one hand was teasing a nipple and Iris had never felt anything so good. She opened her legs wider and raised her hips to meet him and Barry's groan in response was sweet music to her ears. He raised up and moved faster, harder and Iris was in the throws of ecstasy not wanting him to stop. She thrashed around a bit, not able to control the pleasurable sensations and she grabbed him and squeezed him tight when she reached the pinnacle and screamed "Oh, Barr!" as she shuddered uncontrollably to completion. 

She didn't know that hearing her scream his name drove him to the brink, making him lose any semblance of control he tried so desperately to keep to make it last longer for her. But she felt the change in rhythm, the quick jerks. She heard him groan and he collapsed on her, his breathing fast and hard on her neck. 

"My Iris," she heard him whisper and her fingers traipsed through his hair, stoking him softly, basking in the afterglow. A few minutes later Barry raised up and sat back on his heels and she could see the large wet spot on his sweatpants. She smiled at him and he reached down and kissed her on the forehead.

And then they heard it. Heavy stomping on the front porch. Someone trying to rid their boots of the wet, heavy snow. They heard a key scrape the door and then a noisy jangle as the keys hit the ground. He was having a hard time using his key in the darkness. "Oh shit!" they said in unison. Joe was home. They jumped up and ran to their rooms.

"Hey guys!" he heard her father call out. "You guys alright?"

Barry made it back downstairs and Iris heard them talking and laughing like normal. But she was shaken to the core. It freaked her out that her dad could have come home and seen Barry on top of her or seen the big wet spot on Barry's sweats. She wasn't 100% sure that her dad would not have shot Barry if he knew. Or, at the very least, she believed that her dad would despise him a little bit, the way overprotective dads despised guys who humped their 16 year old daughters. She didn't want that. Barry had lost too much already. He couldn't lose another father figure. She didn't want to give her dad any reason to dislike Barry. She knew he loved Barry, but she also knew he didn't understand him like she did. No one did. So she made the decision right there and then that it would never happen again. And it didn't. 

Things were incredibly awkward between them for a couple of months, but between school, volunteer work and cheer competitions and Barry's Mock CSI competition, they rarely saw each other that spring anyway. Summer came quickly and she spent a month with grandma Esther and a couple of weeks at cheerleading camp and Barry did an intensive summer science program at Hudson University where he got to live in the dorms for six weeks. Then junior year rolled around and he started dating Becky Cooper who had been chasing him since freshman year. So Iris pushed that night far into the recesses of her brain, so far that she almost believed that it never happened. Almost.

***

Iris was so lost in thought that she didn't notice when Barry quietly sat down across from her at the breakfast nook.

"We were beginning to think you went to stomp your own grapes," he quipped. Iris started to get up, but Barry motioned for her not to.

"Cisco just went home and Wally went upstairs to study." He studied her.

"Iris, I don't know what to say. I mean we never really talked about that night. Just pretended it never happened. I thought you regretted it. Wished it never happened." 

"No Barr...I thought it was amazing. I thought you were amazing! But it scared me."

"Scared you?"

"We were only 16, Barr. My dad almost caught us. And he would have flipped! I didn't want him to despise you because of me. It would have changed everything." 

Barry nodded fully understanding. "But what about later, when we got older?"

"Barry Allen you never so much as asked me out on a date. I just assumed you wanted to forget it ever happened."

Barry grasped her hand, his thumb rubbing back and forth as always. "Iris West, are you free to go out with me on Saturday night?"

"Yeah, I'd like that."


End file.
